Sometimes education and intelligence are not directly linked, as is evident by the actions of Michigan State DE Demetrius Cooper.

Cooper accepted a plea deal on March 16 that would’ve reduced a misdemeanor assault charge to a littering violation (somehow) if he stayed out of trouble – and if he stayed away from alcohol. Those stipulations seemed to be too much, however, as the Spartans’ senior DE was seen drinking what appears to be liquor on his Snapchat story about a month after the agreement.

https://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/860136955870408704

The exceptionally unfortunate part of this story for Cooper is that he appears to have been ratted out by a Michigan State fan, who tweeted out the captured video with Michigan State athletics tagged in the tweet.

MSU

As a result of the incident, the 54B District Court in Michigan has since stated that “the defendant consumed alcohol on/about (April 21),” and his future is now unclear.

Cooper’s original charge stemmed from a November incident where he spat in the face of an East Lansing Parking and Code Enforcement officer, and it would’ve likely gone away if the 6-foot-5, 253-pound DE had kept on the straight and narrow…or if he had not put it on Snapchat…or if a fan wouldn’t have reported it via Twitter.

There are a ton of lessons to be learned here, but the most obvious is that social media can have very real consequences in the modern age.